The kid kicker from little Regina has rapidly become a precious football commodity down south.

Jon Ryan, who set the CFL's single-season mark for average with Winnipeg last year, has already received one NFL offer and was still awaiting another one yesterday. And it looks like there will be more to come. Ryan got his first offer from the Green Bay Packers after his very first workout and was expecting one from the Cincinnati Bengals to be tabled this week.

"I'm still kind of waiting to hear from my agent (Gil Scott)," Ryan, 25, said yesterday. "But I probably won't hear until anything (today) or (tomorrow)."

But the 6-foot-2, 220-pound punter is hoping Scott, who is in Mobile, Ala., for the Senior Bowl, will line up more workouts. But he does not expect any more this week.

"A big one would be with the New York Giants, because their guy's going to retire," said Ryan, who has also received some interest from Washington and, reportedly, Denver.

That guy would be punter Jeff Feagles, who is about to turn 40.

Ryan is in no rush to sign anyway.

"I'm not a free agent until Feb. 15, so I guess I can't sign a contract down here (U.S.) until after that date," said Ryan, who remains property of the Blue Bombers until then. "But I'm not really sure how that whole thing works."

Although Hamilton Tiger-Cats running back Jessie Lumsden just signed with Washington, he had that NFL window offered to CFLers heading into their option years.

Ryan, however, can probably agree to an NFL pact without complaint from the Bombers. Winnipeg GM Brendan Taman could not be reached for comment.

Scott has not returned messages left last week.

Should the Bombers lose Ryan, veteran placekicker Troy Westwood is capable of handling both the punting and placekicking duties. Saskatchewan's punter/placekicker Paul McCallum is also due to become a CFL free agent, and Taman plans to bring someone to camp to push Westwood no matter what Ryan's status is.